Harmful Hiccups
by Dragonflyr
Summary: If you hiccup 100 times you'll die, or so they've been told. When Yukina gets the hiccups, can they stop them before she ups her final hic? Oneshot. Just a cute HieiYukina brothersister fic. Please R&R.


This is just a cute little Hiei/Yukina brother/sister one-shot I thought of a while back. I thought it would be a nice break from 9 Months. This story was inspired by Tales of Tenchi #7: Help in No Need for Tenchi volume 12. I think it's adorable and I hope you will too.

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the character, etc.

Enjoy. ON WITH THE FIC!

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"**I** have to run some errands in town. Try not to destroy anything while I'm gone," Genkai called over her shoulder as she descended the temple steps.

"Yeah, yeah Grandma, we'll be good," Yusuke called, waving a hand carelessly after her.

"Good-bye Genkai-sama. Have a nice trip," Yukina called sweetly, smiling and waving after the old woman.

"See ya later Genkai-sama!" Kuwabara cried, trying to impress the Koorime as he waved energetically after the psychic.

"Maybe it's a bad idea to leave those two there unsupervised," Genkai muttered to herself as she continued down the stone steps.

"So," Yusuke threw his hands behind his head in a leisurely gesture, "What do ya wanna do?" The question was directed at Kuwabara, but the carrot top wasn't listening.

"Yukina, wanna go for a romantic walk in the woods?" he asked her, his usual goofy Yukina-love-struck look on his face.

"Actually," she smiled up at him, "I was going to go start dinner so it would be ready when Genkai-sama gets back."

"Oh, Sweetums, you don't have to do that yet. She won't be back for a while, you'll have plenty of time," Kuwabara tried to convince her, taking her hand in his.

"Aw, come on Kuwabara," Yusuke cried dejectedly. "She said no. Let's go play some of Grandma's video games or something. You can help me get past level 10 of Goblin City."

"Really Kazuma, I should start dinner. Go play with Yusuke," she urged Kuwabara, who had yet to let go of her hand.

"But it won't be any fun without you," he whined. Suddenly he straightened, going stiff, the top half of his face turning slightly purple as sweat broke out on his brow.

"Oh my! Kazuma?" Yukina cried worried.

"What's up?" Yusuke asked, dropping his arms.

"I'm not sure," Kuwabara answered, wearily looked around at the surrounding trees. "I just go this feeling like…like someone wanted to kill me."

"Oh, is that all?" Yusuke said carelessly.

"How horrible," Yukina murmured, hands coming up to cover her mouth.

Hiei snorted in the tree where he was watching them. Perhaps the idiot wasn't so dumb after all. He continued to watch them as they talked for a few minutes more before Kuwabara finally agreed to go play with Yusuke, the two of them heading around the temple to the game room while Yukina went inside to the kitchen.

Removing his head band, he opened his Jagan and watched her enter the kitchen. She retrieved pots, pans, and cooking utensils from numerous cabinets. It was when she was turned to go to the refrigerator that it happened. She uttered a strange sound, unlike anything Hiei had ever heard before, like a "hic". Her shoulder's jumped as she made the sound and she stopped in surprise in the center of the kitchen.

Hiei sat up fully from where he had been leaning against the trunk of the tree, watching her closely. She looked all around her in confusion, turning in a small circle. As she came to face forward once more it happened again. Just like the first time there was the shake of the shoulders and that sound. Now she looked genuinely scared. She stood for a moment, silently. When it happened a third time, she bolted from the room.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked up in surprise as the door to the game room was thrown opened. Yukina stood framed by sunlight in the doorway. Her normally pale complexion had drained to an eerie white and her eyes were wide with fright.

"Yukina," Kuwabara was shocked by her appearance. "What's wrong?"

She stepped forward into the room on shaky legs, coming closer so that both boys could see the unshed tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Kazu-_hic_-ma," she said softly, "what's _hic_ wrong with me?"

"Wrong with you?" the carrot top muttered in confusion as she hiccupped again. She nodded, sniffling slightly.

"Wait," Yusuke said, stepping forward, "you mean the hiccups?"

"Is that what they're _hic_ called?" she asked tearfully. Both boys nodded dumbly. Once again, Yusuke was the first to catch on.

"Do you mean, this is the first time you've ever had them?" he asked incredulously. She nodded and hiccupped once more.

"What _hic_ are they? Some Nin-_hic_-gen disease?" she muttered.

"Disease?" Kuwabara echoed. "It's just a muscle spasm," he tried to reassure her.

"Is it _hic_ fatal?" she asked brokenly.

"What? No—"

"Depends," Yusuke cut the carrot top off.

"What are you talking about?" Kuwabara asked angrily.

"De-_hic_-pends on what?" she whispered.

"You only die if you hiccup 100 times," Yusuke said matter-of-factly. Yukina stopped trying to hold the water in her eyes, teargems clicking against the floor.

"Don't cry, Sweetums," Kuwabara tried to console her. "That just means we have to stop them before the hundredth one, that's all."

"B-but, _hic_ I haven't b-been count-_hic_-ing," she sobbed. "We w-won't _hic_ k-know until it's _hic_ too late!"

"That was number twenty-seven," a deep voice they all recognized made them turn to the still opened door. Hiei stood in the doorway, arms crossed, garnet orbs focused on the crying Koorime.

"Alright! Nice going, Hiei!" Yusuke cheered.

"When did you get here and why were you keeping track?" Kuwabara asked suspiciously.

"Hn," Hiei grunted.

"Who cares?" Yusuke cried, knowing full well that Hiei had probably been watching his sister all afternoon. "Let's get to work on curing those hiccups!" He and Kuwabara dashed from the room to get supplies, Yukina following slowly, wiping her eyes. She paused as she passed Hiei in the doorway.

"Tha-hic-nk you for counting for me," she smiled at him. He blinked and nodded quickly.

When the Koorime siblings found Kuwabara and Yusuke in the living room they had assembled an assortment of instruments for hiccup fighting. Yusuke tried first, handing Yukina a glass of water.

"Bow your head and drink from the wrong side, the one farthest from you. Oh, and drink it slow," he instructed. She did as he said. They all waited.

"_Hic_!" She handed the glass back, giving Yusuke an apologetic look.

"That's okay," Yusuke assured her. "We've got lots more."

They tried everything they could think of. Having her suck on hard candy, hold her breath, stand on her head and hold her breath, stand on one leg and hold her breath, drink water from a straw while balancing a lemon on her head, swallowing sugar without letting it melt in her mouth: nothing worked. Finally they were left only with scaring her, something that Yusuke didn't want to do with Hiei around and Kuwabara didn't want to do period.

"We're up to ninety now," Yusuke whispered to Kuwabara, both of whom had their backs turned to Yukina and Hiei. "We'll have to really scare her good. I don't think we have time for anything else." Kuwabara nodded and the two of them turned back, slightly startled by what they saw.

Yukina, who had been staring gloomily at her feet when they had turned around, had approached Hiei. She was directly in front of him now and he watched her with a slightly uncomfortable expression, waiting to see what she would do. She hiccupped.

"Ninety-one," she said mournfully before glancing up to look him in the eye. "There's…some-_hic-_thing I have to tell you." Hiei remained silent but nodded for her to continue. The uncomfortable look in his eyes grew as she took his hand in both of hers, but he didn't pull away.

"I never found my real bro-_hic_-ther, but I…I sometimes liked to pretend that I had _hic_…that he was you." Tears shimmered in her eyes as she looked up at him, smiling. Hiei's expression had turned from uncomfortable to stunned.

"What are we waiting for?" Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke.

"Just wait," Yusuke muttered back, watching intently to see what Hiei would do next.

"Why would you wish _I_ was your brother?" Hiei asked his voice much softer than either boy had ever heard it before.

"Why not?" she continued to smile, teargems slipping from her eyes to clatter to the floor. "You've al-_hic_-ways been so kind to me. I can't explain it, but I've always felt _hic_ close to you."

"Yukina…" he trailed off. Did she really mean that, or was she only saying this because she was four hiccups away from death? She sounded sincere.

"I…I wish I had f-_hic_-ound my real brother…" she said regretfully, her smile slipping for a moment, but then it was back as bright and wide as ever. "But you're just as spe-_hic-_cial to me, Hiei."

Hiei felt his heart rate speed up. Only two hiccups to go. His thoughts were a muddled mess, his brain refusing to grasp the idea that she was about to die and he couldn't stop it. She still wanted to find her brother. Her voice, it had been so sad when she had said that. Should he tell her? Should he tell her the brother she had been searching for was standing right in front of her? Didn't she deserve to know before she died?

"You…you're…special to me too," he managed, unsure if it was the right thing to say. She squeezed his hand gently, her eyes sparkling with more tears.

"Rea-_hic_-lly?" she asked. He nodded. He clenched his free hand into a fist. One left. He had to tell her.

"Yukina…I…" he struggled to continue. "I'm…I'm your—"

"Listen," she suddenly interrupted him. He blinked in surprise, listening obediently.

"I don't hear anything," he said after a moment.

"Exactly," she said quietly. "They stopped. No hiccups."

He blinked again. They had stopped. She had hiccupped ninety-nine times and then they had stopped.

"Really, they stopped?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yukina, that's great!" Yusuke cried, relieved.

"You're sure they stopped?" Kuwabara asked again. Yukina laughed.

"Yes, Kazuma, I'm sure. Now, you were saying something Hi—" she turned to find an empty wall "—ei?"

**(xxx)**

"**H**ello, Hiei," Kurama greeted his friend as the half-Koorime materialized beside him. They walked in silence for a moment before Hiei spoke up.

"Kurama, have you ever heard of the hiccups?" Hiei asked. Kurama blinked at the odd question.

"Yes, why?" he asked curiously.

"Can you die from them?" Hiei asked. Kurama stopped in his tracks.

"What? No. What gave you that idea?" Kurama turned to face the fire demon who was staring at the shadow the setting sun cast before him on the pavement.

"The detective said if you hiccup 100 times you'll die." Kurama laughed slightly at that statement.

"No, you won't die from the hiccups, Hiei," Kurama assured his short friend who had turned to glare at him for laughing. "It's just a spasm of the diaphragm. No matter how many times you hiccup, it isn't fatal."

"Hn. Should have known the detective was lying," Hiei grumbled.

**(xxx)**

"**D**ying from the hiccups. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Genkai shook her head as Yukina cleaned the dishes from dinner. She didn't reply to the psychic but concentrated on the soap bubbles her hands were submerged in.

'_Whether I was really going to die or not, what he said…'_ she thought to herself, replaying Hiei's words in her head. _'I don't know why, but when he said I was special to him, I felt like I could die happy right there and then…and yet…I've never wanted to stay alive so badly.'_


End file.
